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I think the problem (once again) is that Microsoft made the mistake of telling people what it was doing, rather than just releasing it and getting a pile of celebrities and adverts to say "wow - now my desktop is swooshy! Why have an iPad 3 when you can have a Windows 8".

When was the last time you saw Android or Apple releasing pre-consumer technology for the news outlets to tear to shreds?

Metro mode doesn't make sense if you don't have apps or an app-store and the interface didn't work well enough in the Developer Preview for people to see the point. It also takes a week or so to get used to, but most people tried it once, said "this is icky" and then took to the blog-o-sphere to spout nonsense. It's almost fashionable these days to complain about Windows8 on twitter, blogs and news-stories, and Microsoft aren't doing anything to control the bad press like Google and Apple do with their products.

Microsoft have also made the mistake of telling people what won't be in Windows8, rather than what will. Apple don't point out that iPads don't have DVD drives, or that you can't run programs in a classic windowed desktop mode on their tablets. Microsoft shouldn't have said anything about it either.

Microsoft should also have specific logic in the DP and CP to prevent you running it in a VM. Windows8 DP/CP completely suck in a VM, and that's how most people have been running it up till now, and exactly how most people won't be using it when it gets released.

The shame is that metro is actually quite usable now, but once again Microsoft has allowed half its user-base to get so terrified of Windows8 that they'll ask PC-World or Walmart for the "Windows7 version please, because I hear the Windows8 one wakes up at night and scares children" without even trying it.